Latest Articles about Military/Security

Moscow’s S-300 Double Bluff in Syria

In early October, following the loss of an Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea on September 17—which Moscow blamed on Israel—Russia carried out a high-profile additional deployment of the S-300 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) (see EDM, September 27,... MORE

A Look at the PLA’s Youth Aviation Programs

As the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and the People’s Liberation Army Naval Aviation (PLAN Aviation) prepare for more challenging missions and continue to integrate more advanced aviation platforms into their inventory, their need for talented and experienced pilots and aviators is increasing. To... MORE

Putin’s Anti-Israeli ‘Surge’ in Syria

The Russian Ministry of Defense did not wait long to deliver its promised S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Syria. On the night of October 3, a huge An-124 Ruslan transport plane unloaded four mobile launchers, radars and command vehicles at Russia’s local Khmeimim airbase. This demonstrative... MORE

The Agreements That Ended the Cold War Are Disintegrating

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Nuclear Planning Group (NPG) was probably the Alliance’s most important and secretive institution during the Cold War. Notably, it worked out NATO members’ joint strategy and tactics for using non-strategic nuclear weapons in a possible all-European war with the... MORE

Ukrainian Government Tries to Expel Foreign Volunteer Fighters

Recent tensions between local members of volunteer battalions and the police threaten to spark another wave of protests in Ukraine on the fifth anniversary of the EuroMaidan revolution. In mid-September, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine extradited to Russia Timur Tumgoev, a 31-year-old Ingush man... MORE

What Happened During Vostok 2018?

After the week-long Vostok 2018 large-scale Russian strategic maneuvers ended on September 17 and the initial hot takes went to press, the Russian blog Naspravdi rebutted Western observations, declaring, “[I]f we consider that America, from time immemorial has only understood the language of power, I... MORE

Russian Naval Infantry Stretches Its Muscles in the Baltic

On September 14, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on a landing exercise in Kaliningrad Oblast—Russia’s Baltic exclave, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania (Mil.ru, September 14). The exercise apparently involved up to 25 surface ships, boats and supply vessels of the Baltic Fleet, over 30... MORE

Russia’s High-Precision Strike Capabilities and ‘Pre-Nuclear’ Deterrence

Moscow is paying increasing attention to the development and strengthening of its Armed Forces’ conventional high-precision strike capabilities. This encapsulates its cruise missile, coastal-defense, operational-strategic and operational-tactical high-precision weapons. Some of these have been tried and tested during combat operations in Syria. And undoubtedly, such... MORE